Search results for: general cognitive functioning

Authors: Frew Yirgalem Mane

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This study has examined Africa’s experiment with authoritarian model of development drawing from the experience of Ethiopia. With the tectonic crisis of neoliberal ideology, the dominant policy agenda in Africa pertains to bringing the state back to development. More concretely, countries epitomized by Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda have been constructing a highly interventionist state with authoritarian character. The central motive appears to facilitate development and salvage people out of appalling and grinding poverty. Each country warrants closer inspection. However, this study focuses on Ethiopia- a country often applauded as ‘Africa’s Great Run’ for delivering socio-economic success over the past two decades. In fact, inspired by East Asia’s including Chinese model of authoritarian development, Ethiopia orchestrated a vanguard party, centralized rent control system with politicized bureaucracy and militaristic mobilization resources for development. This arrangement may explain Ethiopia economic success story as one the fastest growing countries in the world. However, this paper detected, Ethiopia’s attempt to bring the state back in development has precipitated institutionalization of a new breed of authoritarianism and informalization of public institutions. Ethiopia’s model of state-led development may constitute a noticeable shift away from the vengeful adherence to neoliberal policies. However, the manner the model has been practiced proved to be neither smooth nor appears to address Ethiopia’s aspiration for political and economic transformation. Partly, this can be illustrated by recent widespread grievances that fed into the popular uprising and animated opposition against the state. Sources of the grievance are complex, but they are highly ingrained with the way the authoritarian model of development is functioning and also the model’s dis-functioning in terms of benefiting people. In light of these findings, the study has arrived at the following conclusion. Africa’s attempt to emulate development models from other countries is not such a ‘bad’ thing. However, emulation makes sense if it is contextualized and sensitive to complex local socio-economic interests.

Keywords: Africa, authoritarianism, development, Ethiopia, neoliberalism

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Authors: Angela Bargenda, Erhard Lick, Dhoha Trabelsi

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Research in retailing has identified the importance of atmospherics as an essential element in enhancing store image, store patronage intentions, and the overall shopping experience in a retail environment. However, in the area of atmospherics, store window design, which represents an essential component of external store atmospherics, remains a vastly underrepresented phenomenon in extant scholarship. This paper seeks to fill this gap by exploring the relevance of store window design as an atmospheric tool. In particular, empirical evidence of theme-based theatrical store front windows, which put emphasis on the use of verbo-visual design elements, was found in Paris and New York. The purpose of this study was to identify to what extent such multimodal window designs of high-end department stores in metropolitan cities have an impact on store entry decisions and attitudes towards the retailer’s image. As theoretical construct, the linguistic concept of multimodality and Mehrabian’s and Russell’s model in environmental psychology were applied. To answer the research question, two studies were conducted. For Study 1 a case study approach was selected to define three different types of store window designs based on different types of visual-verbal relations. Each of these types of store window design represented a different level of cognitive elaboration required for the decoding process. Study 2 consisted of an on-line survey carried out among more than 300 respondents to examine the influence of these three types of store window design on the consumer behavioral variables mentioned above. The results of this study show that the higher the cognitive elaboration needed to decode the message of the store window, the lower the store entry propensity. In contrast, the higher the cognitive elaboration, the higher the perceived image of the retailer’s image. One important conclusion is that in order to increase consumers’ propensity to enter stores with theme-based theatrical store front windows, retailers need to limit the cognitive elaboration required to decode their verbo-visual window design.

Keywords: consumer behavior, multimodality, store atmospherics, store window design

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Authors: Priyanka Tiwari, Uma Devi Ranjit, Ritesh Thapa

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Background and Significance: Cerebral Palsy (CP) influences not only the child's everyday functioning but also the functioning of whole family. Application of study findings can be used in clinical or community setting to screen the parents of children with cerebral palsy in order to identify the compromised domain of stress which in turn will help to improve the interaction between parent and child with disability and thus ultimately affect the progress that a child makes in his or her therapeutic or educational programs. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the level of stress in mothers of children with CP by adopting mixed method design. Methodology: Cross-sectional descriptive design was adopted in the quantitative design where Parental Stress Scale (PSS) was utilized to collect data from a convenient sample of 40 mothers of children with CP who were under regular follow-up by home visitor of Self-help Group for Cerebral Palsy while embedded qualitative design was used to explore the stress of mothers of CP affected children. From the parent population of quantitative sample 4 mothers were chosen for in-depth exploration, regarding their stress by means of case study method. Descriptive statistics like frequency, percentage, mean, median, standard deviation, correlation and inferential statistics like Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis H test were used to describe and assess relationship between variables. Findings: The mean stress experienced by mothers of children with cerebral palsy was 53.62±9.53 with 15% percent of the mothers experiencing severe stress. There was significant association between age group of mother and total stress score and negative themes of stress. Similarly, signification association was found between educational status of the mother and positive themes of stress which was convergent with the qualitative finding as well, where literate mothers had more positive view of their child's disability which could be attributed to their educational level as education provides us with a broad perspective to look at a situation. Conclusions: Still one-sixth of the mothers experienced severe stress so if we want to ensure the well-being of the children affected by cerebral palsy, then parents caring for them need to be looked after as well.

Keywords: stress, cerebral palsy, mothers, mixed method

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Authors: Jason Maffia, Maria D’urso, Robert Crupi, Margaret Cartmell

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The emotional aspects of traumatic events such as workplace violence are often ignored, causing low productivity, disillusionment, and resentment within an organization. As a result, if workplace violence, particularly in healthcare settings, is not adequately addressed, it will become a phenomenon, undermining the peace and stability among the active communities while also posing a risk to the population's health and well-being. This review intends to identify the risk factors and the implications of workplace violence in healthcare settings and highlight the collaborative efforts needed in sustaining control and prevention measures against workplace violence. It is essential that health care organizations are prepared physically and emotionally for traumatic situations. This study explores the theoretical nature of addressing work-related violence in healthcare settings as well as traumatic stress reactivity and the context within which reactions occur and recovery takes place. Cognitive, social, and organizational influences on response are identified and used to tentatively offer explanations for identifying security risks, development, and implementation of de-escalation teams, CISM programs and training staff in violence prevention are among strategies hospitals are employing to keep workers and patients safe. General conclusion regarding the implications for intervention effectiveness and design are discussed.

Keywords: healthcare settings, stress reactions, traumatic events, workplace violence

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Authors: Victor N. Anisimov, Lyubov A. Boyko, Yazgul R. Almukhametova, Natalia V. Galkina, Alexander V. Latanov

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Modern commercials presented on billboards, TV and on the Internet contain a lot of information about the product or service in text form. However, this information cannot always be perceived and understood by consumers. Typical sociological focus group studies often cannot reveal important features of the interpretation and understanding information that has been read in text messages. In addition, there is no reliable method to determine the degree of understanding of the information contained in a text. Only the fact of viewing a text does not mean that consumer has perceived and understood the meaning of this text. At the same time, the tools based on marketing analysis allow only to indirectly estimate the process of reading and understanding a text. Therefore, the aim of this work is to develop a valid method of recording objective indicators in real time for assessing the fact of reading and the degree of text comprehension. Psychophysiological parameters recorded during text reading can form the basis for this objective method. We studied the relationship between multimodal psychophysiological parameters and the process of text comprehension during reading using the method of correlation analysis. We used eye-tracking technology to record eye movements parameters to estimate visual attention, electroencephalography (EEG) to assess cognitive load and polygraphic indicators (skin-galvanic reaction, SGR) that reflect the emotional state of the respondent during text reading. We revealed reliable interrelations between perceiving the information and the dynamics of psychophysiological parameters during reading the text in commercials. Eye movement parameters reflected the difficulties arising in respondents during perceiving ambiguous parts of text. EEG dynamics in rate of alpha band were related with cumulative effect of cognitive load. SGR dynamics were related with emotional state of the respondent and with the meaning of text and type of commercial. EEG and polygraph parameters together also reflected the mental difficulties of respondents in understanding text and showed significant differences in cases of low and high text comprehension. We also revealed differences in psychophysiological parameters for different type of commercials (static vs. video, financial vs. cinema vs. pharmaceutics vs. mobile communication, etc.). Conclusions: Our methodology allows to perform multimodal evaluation of text perusal and the quality of text reading in commercials. In general, our results indicate the possibility of designing an integral model to estimate the comprehension of reading the commercial text in percent scale based on all noticed markers.

Keywords: reading, commercials, eye movements, EEG, polygraphic indicators

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Authors: Jong-Hwa Kim, Mu-Wook Pyeon, Yang-dam Eo, Ill-Woong Jang

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Construction of geo-spatial information recently tends to develop as multi-dimensional geo-spatial information. People constructing spatial information is also expanding its area to the general public from some experts. As well as, studies are in progress using a variety of devices, with the aim of near real-time update. In this paper, getting the stereo images using GoPro device used widely also to the general public as well as experts. And correcting the distortion of the images, then by using SIFT, DLT, is acquired the point clouds. It presented a possibility that on the basis of this experiment, using a video device that is readily available in real life, to create a real-time digital map.

Keywords: GoPro, SIFT, DLT, point clouds

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Authors: S. Nandagopalan, N. Pradeep

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The aim of this paper is to propose a general framework for storing, analyzing, and extracting knowledge from two-dimensional echocardiographic images, color Doppler images, non-medical images, and general data sets. A number of high performance data mining algorithms have been used to carry out this task. Our framework encompasses four layers namely physical storage, object identification, knowledge discovery, user level. Techniques such as active contour model to identify the cardiac chambers, pixel classification to segment the color Doppler echo image, universal model for image retrieval, Bayesian method for classification, parallel algorithms for image segmentation, etc., were employed. Using the feature vector database that have been efficiently constructed, one can perform various data mining tasks like clustering, classification, etc. with efficient algorithms along with image mining given a query image. All these facilities are included in the framework that is supported by state-of-the-art user interface (UI). The algorithms were tested with actual patient data and Coral image database and the results show that their performance is better than the results reported already.

Keywords: active contour, bayesian, echocardiographic image, feature vector

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Authors: Mahnaz Hosseinzadeh, Mohammad Reza Mehregan

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In this paper, we have developed a morphological field to assist multi- methodology (combining methodologies together in whole or part) in Operations Research (OR) for the problem contexts in Iranian organizations. So, we have attempted to identify some dimensions for problem context according to Iranian organizational problems. Then, a general morphological program is designed which helps the OR practitioner to determine the suitable OR methodology as output for any configuration of conditions in a problem context as input and to reveal the fields necessary to be improved in OR. Applying such a program would have interesting results for OR practitioners.

Keywords: hard, soft and emancipatory operations research, General Morphological Analysis (GMA), multi-methodology, problem context

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Authors: Hong Lu, Xin Chen, Zhengcheng Fan

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Prior research has claimed a close association between handwriting and mathematics attainment with the help of spatial cognition. However, the exact mechanism behind this relationship remains un-investigated. Focusing on visual-motor integration (VMI), one critical spatial skill, this meta-analysis aims to estimate the size of the handwriting- visual-motor integration relationship and examine the moderating effect of handwriting dimensions on the link. With a random effect model, a medium relation (r=.26, 95%CI [.22, .30]) between handwriting and VMI was summarized in 38 studies with 55 unique samples and 141 effect sizes. Findings suggested handwriting dimensions significantly moderated the handwriting- VMI relationship, with handwriting legibility showing a substantial correlation with VMI, but neither handwriting speed nor pressure. Identifying the essential relationship between handwriting legibility and VMI, this study adds to the literature about the key cognitive processing needs underlying handwriting, and spatial cognition thus highlights the cognitive mechanism regarding handwriting, spatial cognition, and mathematics performances.

Keywords: handwriting, visual-motor integration, legibility, meta-analysis

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Authors: Yaru Meng

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The study contributes to the small but growing literature around computerized approaches to dynamic assessment (C-DA), wherein individual items are accompanied by mediating prompts. Mediation in the current computerized dynamic listening assessment (CDLA) was informed by an attribute-based mediation model (AMM) that identified the underlying L2 listening cognitive abilities and associated descriptors. The AMM served to focus mediation during C-DA on particular cognitive abilities with a goal of specifying areas of learner difficulty. 86 low-intermediate L2 English learners from a university in China completed three listening assessments, with an experimental group receiving the CLDA system and a control group a non-dynamic assessment. As an assessment, the use of the AMM in C-DA generated detailed diagnoses for each learner. In addition, both within- and between-group repeated ANOVA found greater gains at the level of specific attributes among C-DA learners over the course of a 5-week study. Directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords: computerized dynamic assessment, effectiveness, English as foreign language listening, attribute-based mediation model

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Authors: A. Benzian

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The generalization of relativistic theory of gravity based essentially on the principle of equivalence stipulates that for all bodies, the grave mass is equal to the inert mass which leads us to believe that gravitation is not a property of the bodies themselves, but of space, and the conclusion that the gravitational field must curved space-time what allows the abandonment of Minkowski space (because Minkowski space-time being nonetheless null curvature) to adopt Riemannian geometry as a mathematical framework in order to determine the curvature. Therefore the work presented in this paper begins with the evolution of the concept of gravity then tensor field which manifests by Riemannian geometry to formulate the general equation of the gravitational field.

Keywords: inertia, principle of equivalence, tensors, Riemannian geometry

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Authors: Anna Pudlo

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The EU law encompasses many supranational legal systems (EU law, ECHR, international public law and constitutional traditions common to the Member States) which guarantee the protection of fundamental rights, with partly overlapping scopes of applicability, various principles of interpretation of legal norms and a different hierarchy. In EU law, the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation originates from both the primary and secondary EU legislation. At present, the prohibition is considered to be a fundamental right in pursuance of Article 21 of the Charter, but the Court has not yet determined whether it is a right or a principle within the meaning of the Charter. Similarly, the Court has not deemed this criterion to be a general principle of EU law. The personal and materials scope of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation based on Article 21 of the Charter requires each time to be specified in another legal act of the EU in accordance with Article 51 of the Charter. The effect of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation understood as above will be two-fold, for the States and for the Union. On the one hand, one may refer to the legal instruments of review of EU law enforcement by a Member State laid down in the Treaties. On the other hand, EU law does not provide for the right to individual petition. Therefore, it is the duty of the domestic courts to protect the right of a person not to be discriminated on grounds of sexual orientation in line with the national procedural rules, within the limits and in accordance with the principles set out in EU law, in particular in Directive 2000/78. The development of the principle of non-discrimination in the Court’s case-law gives rise to certain doubts as to its applicability, namely whether the principle as the general principle of EU law may be granted an autonomous character, with respect to the applicability to matters not included in the personal or material scope of the Directives, although within the EU’s competence. Moreover, both the doctrine and the opinions of the Advocates-General have called for the general competence of CJEU with regard to fundamental rights which, however, might lead to a violation of the principle of separation of competence. The aim of this paper is to answer the question what is the nature of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation in EU law (a general principle in EU law, or a principle or right under the Charter’s terminology). Therefore, the paper focuses on the nature of Article 21 of the Charter (a right or a principle) and the scope (personal and material) of the prohibition of discrimination based on sexual orientation in EU law as well as its effect (vertical or horizontal). The study has included the provisions of EU law together with the relevant CJEU case-law.

Keywords: EU law, EU principles, non-discrimination in EU law, Charter of the Fundamental Rights

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Authors: Mustafa Jahanara

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The purpose of the research was to study the relationship between self-esteem, self-Efficacy with psychological distress in the high school teachers. A total of 245 teachers (92 male and 153 female) in the high school of Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif from Afghanistan completed inventories General Self-Efficacy, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and General Health Questionnaire-12 and that assessed their Self-Efficacy, self-esteem with psychological distress. Correlational analysis showed that self-efficacy and self-esteem were significantly and positively correlated with each other. The results of the study indicated that psychological distress is negatively related to self-esteem, and self-efficacy. However, the findings suggest that self-esteem, and self-efficacy could influence on mental health.

Keywords: high school teachers, self-esteem, self-efficacy, psychological distress

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Authors: Amanda Abbott-Jones

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Adult students with dyslexia in higher education can receive support for their cognitive needs but may also experience negative emotion such as anxiety due to their dyslexia in connection with their studies. This paper aims to test the hypothesis that adult dyslexic learners have a higher prevalence of academic and social anxiety than their non-dyslexic peers. A quantitative approach was used to measure differences in academic and social anxiety between 102 students with a formal diagnosis of dyslexia compared to 72 students with no history of learning difficulties. Academic and social anxiety was measured in a questionnaire based on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Findings showed that dyslexic students showed statistically significant higher levels of academic, but not social anxiety in comparison to the non-dyslexic sample. Dyslexic students in higher education show academic anxiety levels that are well above what is shown by students without dyslexia. The implications of this for the dyslexia practitioner is that delivery of strategies to deal with anxiety should be seen equally as important, if not more so, than interventions to deal with cognitive difficulties.

Keywords: Academic, Anxiety, Dyslexia, Quantitative

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Authors: Yumeng He

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The purpose of this paper is to establish the “extenics” of children music education, the “extenics” thought and methods are introduced into the children music education field. Discussions are made from the perspective of children music education on how to generate new music cognitive from music cognitive, how to generate new music education from music education and how to generate music learning from music learning. The research methods including the extensibility of music art, extensibility of music education, extensibility of music capability and extensibility of music learning. Results of this study indicate that the thought and research methods of children’s extended music education not only have developed the “extenics” concept and ideological methods, meanwhile, the brand-new thought and innovative research perspective have been employed in discussing the children music education. As indicated in research, the children’s extended music education has extended the horizon of children music education, and has endowed the children music education field with a new thought and research method.

Keywords: comprehensive evaluations, extension thought, extension cognition music education, extensibility

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Authors: Frederic Jumelle, Kelvin So, Didan Deng

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A method and system for neuropsychological performance test, comprising a mobile terminal, used to interact with a cloud server which stores user information and is logged into by the user through the terminal device; the user information is directly accessed through the terminal device and is processed by artificial neural network, and the user information comprises user facial emotions information, performance test answers information and user chronometrics. This assessment is used to evaluate the cognitive performance and emotional response of the subject to a series of dichotomous questions describing various situations of daily life and challenging the users' knowledge, values, ethics, and principles. In industrial applications, the timing of this assessment will depend on the users' need to obtain a service from a provider, such as opening a bank account, getting a mortgage or an insurance policy, authenticating clearance at work, or securing online payments.

Keywords: artificial intelligence, neurofinance, neuropsychology, risk management

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Authors: Yanuarti Retnaningrum, Cendrawasih A. Farmasyanti, Kuswahyuning

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Orthodontists find challenges in treating patients who have cases of macroglossia and multiple tooth agenesis because difficulties in determining the causes, formulating a diagnosis and the potential for relapse after treatment. Definition of macroglossia is a tongue enlargement due to muscle hypertrophy, tumor or an endocrine disturbance. Macroglossia may cause many problems such as anterior proclination of upper and lower incisors, development of general diastema and anterior and/ or posterior open bite. Treatment for such patients with multiple tooth agenesis and macroglossia can be complex and must consider orthodontic and/or surgical interventions. This article discusses an orthodontic non surgical approach to a patient with a general diastema in both maxilla and mandible associated with multiple tooth agenesis and macroglossia. Fixed orthodontic therapy with straightwire appliance was used for space closure in anterior region of maxilla and mandible, also to create a space suitable for future prosthetic restoration. After 12 months treatment, stable and functional occlusal relationships was achieved, although still have edentulous area in both maxilla and mandible. At the end of the orthodontic treatment was obtained with correct overbite and overjet values. After removal of the brackets, a maxillary and mandibular removable retainer combine with artificial tooth were placed for retention.

Keywords: general diastema, macroglossia, space closure, tooth agenesis

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Authors: L. Freeborn

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This paper discusses the application of complex dynamic system theory (DST) to the study of individual differences in second language development. This transdisciplinary framework allows researchers to view the trajectory of language development as a dynamic, non-linear process. A DST approach views language as multi-componential, consisting of multiple complex systems and nested layers. These multiple components and systems continuously interact and influence each other at both the macro- and micro-level. Dynamic systems theory aims to explain and describe the development of the language system, rather than make predictions about its trajectory. Such a holistic and ecological approach to second language development allows researchers to include various research methods from neurological, cognitive, and social perspectives. A DST perspective would involve in-depth analyses as well as mixed methods research. To illustrate, a neurobiological approach to second language development could include non-invasive neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate areas of brain activation during language-related tasks. A cognitive framework would further include behavioural research methods to assess the influence of intelligence and personality traits, as well as individual differences in foreign language aptitude, such as phonetic coding ability and working memory capacity. Exploring second language development from a DST approach would also benefit from including perspectives from the field of applied linguistics, regarding the teaching context, second language input, and the role of affective factors such as motivation. In this way, applying mixed research methods from neurobiological, cognitive, and social approaches would enable researchers to have a more holistic view of the dynamic and complex processes of second language development.

Keywords: dynamic systems theory, mixed methods, research design, second language development

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Authors: Marina Shurupova, Victor Anisimov, Alexander Latanov

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Background: The cerebellar lesions inevitably provoke oculomotor impairments in patients of different age. Symptoms of subtentorial tumors, particularly medulloblastomas, include static and dynamic coordination disorders (ataxia, asynergia, imbalance), hypo-muscle tonus, disruption of the cranial nerves, and within the oculomotor system - nystagmus (fine or gross). Subtentorial tumors can also affect the areas of cerebellum that control the oculomotor system. The noninvasive eye-tracking technology allows obtaining multiple oculomotor characteristics such as the number of fixations and their duration, amplitude, latency and velocity of saccades, trajectory and scan path of gaze during the process of the visual field navigation. Eye tracking could be very useful in clinical studies serving as convenient and effective tool for diagnostics. The aim: We studied the dynamics of oculomotor system functioning in patients undergoing remission from cerebellar tumors removal surgeries and following neurocognitive rehabilitation. Methods: 38 children (23 boys, 15 girls, 9-17 years old) that have recovered from the cerebellar tumor-removal surgeries, radiation therapy and chemotherapy and were undergoing course of neurocognitive rehabilitation participated in the study. Two tests were carried out to evaluate oculomotor performance - gaze stability test and counting test. The monocular eye movements were recorded with eye tracker ArringtonResearch (60 Hz). Two experimental sessions with both tests were conducted before and after rehabilitation courses. Results: Within the final session of both tests we observed remarkable improvement in oculomotor performance: 1) in the gaze stability test the spread of gaze positions significantly declined compared to the first session, and 2) the visual path in counting test significantly shortened both compared to the first session. Thus, neurocognitive rehabilitation improved the functioning of the oculomotor system in patients following the cerebellar tumor removal surgeries and subsequent therapy. Conclusions: The experimental data support the effectiveness of the utilization of the eye tracking technique as diagnostic tool in the field of neurooncology.

Keywords: eye tracking, rehabilitation, cerebellar tumors, oculomotor system

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Authors: Aadityaa Singla

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The big five personality traits are as follows: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. In order to get an insight into their personality, many flocks to these categories, which each have different meanings/characteristics. This information is important not only to individuals but also to career professionals and psychologists who can use this information for candidate assessment or job recruitment. The links between AI and psychology have been well studied in cognitive science, but it is still a rather novel development. It is possible for various AI classification models to accurately predict a personality question via ten input questions. This would contrast with the hundred questions that normal humans have to answer to gain a complete picture of their five personality traits. In order to approach this problem, various AI classification models were used on a dataset to predict what a user may answer. From there, the model's prediction was compared to its actual response. Normally, there are five answer choices (a 20% chance of correct guess), and the models exceed that value to different degrees, proving their significance. By utilizing an MLP classifier, decision tree, linear model, and K-nearest neighbors, they were able to obtain a test accuracy of 86.643, 54.625, 47.875, and 52.125, respectively. These approaches display that there is potential in the future for more nuanced predictions to be made regarding personality.

Keywords: machine learning, personally, big five personality traits, cognitive science

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Authors: Marina Wagdy Nageeb Eskander

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A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

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Authors: Tryphon Kollintzas, Lambros Pechlivanos

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In this paper, we formulate a general equilibrium theory that explains the existence and stability of democratically elected governments that support certain groups of individuals in society (insiders) to the detriment of everybody else (outsiders), even if the latter constitute a majority. The vehicle is a dynamic general equilibrium model, where insiders get monopoly rents and outsiders get less than what they would have gotten under a common good regime. We construct such political economy equilibria, and we identify the conditions under which such political regimes (coalitions of insiders): (a) can safeguard against opportunistic behavior (i.e., do not fall from within) and (b) may come to power in the first place (i.e., manage to get elected). To that end, we highlight the role of perception manipulation and self-serving bias as a gluing device to garner an electable coalition.

Keywords: insiders, coalition governments, stability, electability, politico-economic equilibrium, perceptions manipulation

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Authors: Jolanta Jonak

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All students demonstrate various learning preferences and learning styles that range from visual, auditory to kinesthetic preferences. These learning preferences are further impacted by individual cognitive profiles hat characterizes itself in linguistic strengths, logical- special, inter-or intra- personal, just to name a few. Students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CLD) have an increased risk of being misunderstood by many school systems and even medical personnel. Students with disability, specifically Autism, are faced with another layer of learning differences. Research indicates that large numbers of students are not provided the type of education and types of supports they need in order to be successful in an academic environment. Multiple research findings indicate that significant numbers of school staff self-reports that they do not feel adequately prepared to work with students with disability and different learing profiles. It is very important for the school staff to be educated about different learning needs of students with autism spectrum disorders. Having the knowledge, school staff can avoid unnecessary referrals for office referrals and avoid inaccurate decisions about restrictive learning environments. This presentation will illustrate the cognitive differences in students with autism, how to recognize them, and how to support them through Differentiated Instruction. One way to ensure successful education for students with disability is by providing Differentiated Instruction (DI). DI is quickly gaining its popularity in the Unites States as a scientific- research based instructional approach for all students. This form of support ensures that regardless of the students’ learning preferences and cognitive learning profiles, they have an opportunity to learn through approaches that are suitable to their needs. It is extremely important for the school staff, especially school psychologists who often are the first experts to be consulted by educators, to be educated about differences due to learning preference styles and differentiation needs.

Keywords: special education, autism, differentiation, differences, differentiated instruction

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Authors: Teresa Rushe, Nicole Devlin, Tara O Neill

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In this study, we sought to examine associations between childhood experiences of community and collective violence and psychological functioning in young people who grew up in post-conflict Northern Ireland. We hypothesized that those who grew up with such experiences would demonstrate internalizing and externalizing difficulties in early adulthood and, furthermore, that these difficulties would be mediated by adverse childhood experiences occurring within the home environment. As part of the Northern Ireland Childhood Adversity Study, we recruited 213 young people aged 18-25 years (108 males) who grew up in the post-conflict society of Northern Ireland using purposive sampling. Participants completed a digital questionnaire to measure adverse childhood experiences as well as aspects of psychological functioning. We employed the Adverse Childhood Experience -International Questionnaire (ACE-IQ¬) adaptation of the original Adverse Childhood Experiences Questionnaire (ACE) as it additionally measured aspects of witnessing community violence (e.g., seeing someone being beaten/killed, fights) and experiences of collective violence (e.g., war, terrorism, police, or gangs’ battles exposure) during the first 18 years of life. 51% of our sample reported experiences of community and/or collective violence (N=108). Compared to young people with no such experiences (N=105), they also reported significantly more adverse experiences indicative of household dysfunction (e.g., family substance misuse, mental illness or domestic violence in the family, incarceration of a family member) but not more experiences of abuse or neglect. As expected, young people who grew up with the community and/or collective violence reported significantly higher anxiety and depression scores and were more likely to engage in acts of deliberate self-harm (internalizing symptoms). They also started drinking and taking drugs at a younger age and were significantly more likely to have been in trouble with the police (externalizing symptoms). When the type of violence exposure was separated by whether the violence was witnessed (community violence) or more directly experienced (collective violence), we found community and collective violence to have similar effects on externalizing symptoms, but for internalizing symptoms, we found evidence of a differential effect. Collective violence was associated with depressive symptoms, whereas witnessing community violence was associated with anxiety-type symptoms and deliberate self-harm. However, when experiences of household dysfunction were entered into the models predicting anxiety, depression, and deliberate self-harm, none of the main effects remained significant. This suggests internalizing type symptoms are mediated by immediate family-level experiences. By contrast, significant community and collective violence effects on externalizing behaviours: younger initiation of alcohol use, younger initiation of drug use, and getting into trouble with the police persisted after controlling for family-level factors and thus are directly associated with growing up with the community and collective violence. Given the cross-sectional nature of our study, we cannot comment on the direction of the effect. However, post-hoc correlational analyses revealed associations between externalising behaviours and personal factors, including greater risk-taking and young age at puberty. The implications of the findings will be discussed in relation to interventions for young people and families living with the community and collective violence.

Keywords: community and collective violence, adverse childhood experiences, youth, psychological wellbeing

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Authors: Eva Maged Hosni Sadek

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these "syndrome" forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or "non-syndrome" autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way for improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder, and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties ("sticky attention"), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

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Authors: A. Alli-Oluwafuyi, A. Amin, S. M. Fii, S. O. Amusa, A. Imam, N. T. Asogwa, W. I. Abdulmajeed, F. Olaseinde, B. V. Owoyele

Abstract:

Chronic stress or prolonged glucocorticoid administration impairs higher cognitive functions in rodents and humans. However, the mechanisms are not fully clear. Insulin and receptors are expressed in the brain and are involved in cognition. Insulin resistance accompanies Alzheimer’s disease and associated cognitive decline. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of sub-chronic administration of a glucocorticoid, dexamethasone (DEX) on behavior and biochemical changes in prefrontal cortex (PFC). Male Wistar rats were administered DEX (2, 4 & 8 mg/kg, IP) or saline for seven consecutive days and behavior was assessed in the following paradigms: “Y” maze, elevated plus maze, Morris’ water maze and novel object recognition (NOR) tests. Insulin, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) activity were evaluated in homogenates of the prefrontal cortex. DEX-treated rats exhibited impaired prefrontal cortex function manifesting as reduced locomotion, impaired novel object exploration and impaired short- and long-term spatial memory compared to normal controls (p < 0.05). These effects were not consistently dose-dependent. These behavioral alterations were accompanied by a decrease in insulin concentration observed in PFC of 4 mg/kg DEX-treated rats compared to control (10μIU/mg vs. 50μIU/mg; p < 0.05) but not 2mg/kg. Furthermore, we report a modification of brain stress markers LDH and SOD (p > 0.05). These results indicate that prolonged activation of GCs disrupt prefrontal cortex function which may be related to insulin impairment. These effects may not be attributable to a non-specific elevation of oxidative stress in the brain. Future studies would evaluate mechanisms of GR-induced insulin loss.

Keywords: dexamethasone, insulin, memory, prefrontal cortex

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Authors: Rania Melad Kamel Hakim

Abstract:

A descriptive statistical analysis of the data showed that the most important factor evoking negative attitudes among teachers is student behavior. These have been presented as useful models for understanding the risk factors and protective factors associated with the emergence of autistic traits. Although these ‘syndrome’ forms of autism reach clinical thresholds, they appear to be distinctly different from the idiopathic or ‘non-syndrome’ autism phenotype. Most teachers reported that kindergartens did not prepare them for the educational needs of children with autism, particularly in relation to non-verbal skills. The study is important and points the way to improving teacher inclusion education in Thailand. Inclusive education for students with autism is still in its infancy in Thailand. Although the number of autistic children in schools has increased significantly since the Thai government introduced the Education Regulations for Persons with Disabilities Act in 2008, there is a general lack of services for autistic students and their families. This quantitative study used the Teaching Skills and Readiness Scale for Students with Autism (APTSAS) to test the attitudes and readiness of 110 elementary school teachers when teaching students with autism in general education classrooms. To uncover the true nature of these co-morbidities, it is necessary to expand the definition of autism to include the cognitive features of the disorder and then apply this expanded conceptualization to examine patterns of autistic syndromes. This study used various established eye-tracking paradigms to assess the visual and attention performance of children with DS and FXS who meet the autism thresholds defined in the Social Communication Questionnaire. To study whether the autistic profiles of these children are associated with visual orientation difficulties (‘sticky attention’), decreased social attention, and increased visual search performance, all of which are hallmarks of the idiopathic autistic child phenotype. Data will be collected from children with DS and FXS, aged 6 to 10 years, and two control groups matched for age and intellectual ability (i.e., children with idiopathic autism).In order to enable a comparison of visual attention profiles, cross-sectional analyzes of developmental trajectories are carried out. Significant differences in the visual-attentive processes underlying the presentation of autism in children with FXS and DS have been suggested, supporting the concept of syndrome specificity. The study provides insights into the complex heterogeneity associated with autism syndrome symptoms and autism itself, with clinical implications for the utility of autism intervention programs in DS and FXS populations.

Keywords: attitude, autism, teachers, sports activities, movement skills, motor skills

Procedia PDF Downloads 50

Authors: Christina Albertina Ludwinia Parung, I Gusti Ayu Maya Vratasti

Abstract:

Sexual transmission of HIV among Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) is believed to be one of the sources of the AIDS epidemic. Nowadays, government, communities, and NGOs are taking action to prevent its spread by assisting and educating groups of MSM in their countries. This assistance involves experts in many fields of study, including psychology. In the field of psychology, psychoeducation is believed to be one of the ways to assist the MSM groups. Just like in other countries, this psychoeducation assistance is also needed in Indonesia, where MSM groups are found in many cities within. Surabaya, as the second largest and densely populated city in Indonesia, is known to have a big number of MSM population. In September to December 2020, the author and a colleague conducted a mentoring effort to the MSM community at the MSM community gathering location called Gang Pattaya, in the city of Surabaya. The existence of this community is disguised by the general public, but is well known by NGOs. Community members do MSM out of their liking, although some do it in exchange for money. However, safety factors, such as using condoms for MSM, are not a priority for this community. They do MSM whether they receive a reward or not, just out of a boost of pleasure. There is no attempt to find out the health of the partner once they are attracted to each other. In general, they do not know whether they are infected with HIV. Most of them feel healthy and since they do not show any symptoms, they think it is not necessary to get tested. In the mentoring process, the researchers conduct psychoeducation, which begins with an approach to certain individuals so that they are comfortable with the researchers’ presence, then increasing awareness of safe sex behavior for HIV prevention for groups in the form of counseling using the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) approach. Counseling is carried out in various forms including roleplay, games, and seminars. The number of participants was 11 people, varying from 19-47 years old. Pretest related to knowledge of safe sex was carried out before conducting the intervention and post-test after the intervention. The normality test used is the Shapiro-Wilk analysis. Different tests on the data obtained were carried out using the non-parametric Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test. None of the participants had lower post-test knowledge scores than the pre-test. Prestest and post test for safer sex behavior showed 2 participants with safer sex behavior did not change. Both belong to the senior group, while other participants have an improvement in their safer sex behavior. These findings suggest that intervention programs for MSM as an effort to reduce HIV transmission should pay attention to affective and cognitive coping strategies.

Keywords: HIV, men who have sex with men, psychoeducation, psychology health, safer sex behavior, theory of reasoned action

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Authors: Chenchen Liu, Jacques Audran

Abstract:

Using tablet apps with a certain educational purpose to promote young children’s cognitive development, is quite common now. Developing an educational app on an Ipad like tablet, especially for a young child (age 3-5) requires an optimal level of challenge to continuously attract children’s attention and obtain an educational effect. Adaptive difficulty adjustment, which could dynamically set the difficulty in the challenge according to children’s performance, seems to be a good solution. Since space concept plays an important role in young children’s cognitive development, we made an experimental comparison in a French kindergarten between one group of 23 children using an educational app ‘Debout Ludo’ with adaptive difficulty settings and another group of 20 children using the previous version of ‘Debout Ludo’ with a classic incremental difficulty adjustment. The experiment results of spatial problem solving indicated that a significantly higher learning outcome was acquired by the young children who used the adaptive version of the app.

Keywords: adaptive difficulty, spatial problem solving, tactile tablet, young children

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Authors: Michael Ward, Eliana Kalakouti, Andrew Alabi

Abstract:

Aim: The handover process is recognized as a vulnerable step in the patient care pathway where errors are likely to occur. As such, it is a major preventable cause of patient harm due to human factors of poor communication and systematic error. The aim of this study was to audit the general surgery department’s weekend handover process compared to the recommended criteria for safe handover as set out by the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS). Method: A retrospective audit of the General Surgery department’s Friday patient lists and patient medical notes used for weekend handover in a London-based District General Hospital (DGH). Medical notes were analyzed against RCS's suggested criteria for handover. A standardized paper weekend handover proforma was then developed in accordance with guidelines and circulated in the department. A post-intervention audit was then conducted using the same methods for cycle 1. For cycle 2, we introduced an electronic weekend handover tool along with Electronic Patient Records (EPR). After a one-month period, a second post-intervention audit was conducted. Results: Following cycle 1, the paper weekend handover proforma was only used in 23% of patient notes. However, when it was used, 100% of them had a plan for the weekend, diagnosis and location but only 40% documented potential discharge status and 40% ceiling of care status. Qualitative feedback was that it was time-consuming to fill out. Better results were achieved following cycle 2, with 100% of patient notes having the electronic proforma. Results improved with every patient having documented ceiling of care, discharge status and location. Only 55% of patients had a past surgical history; however, this was still an increase when compared to paper proforma (45%). When comparing electronic versus paper proforma, there was an increase in documentation in every domain of the handover outlined by RCS with an average relative increase of 1.72 times (p<0.05). Qualitative feedback was that the autofill function made it easy to use and simple to view. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that the implementation of an electronic autofill handover proforma significantly improved handover compliance with RCS guidelines, thereby improving the transmission of information from week-day to weekend teams.

Keywords: surgery, handover, proforma, electronic handover, weekend, general surgery

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